Under Your Thumb
by Leanna DeAvignon
Summary: Very short. Little Integra loses a prized possession and learns a thing or two about being the master of a vampire. Take it as you will.


Integra wasn't happy. She couldn't find the small silver cross her father had given her so long ago as a decoration for her little ascot.

"Alucard!" she hollered. The tall vampire floated into the room with a smile on his face. "You needn't yell, my master."

"I won't yell if I know where my silver cross is!" she glared at him with such animosity that Alucard smiled fiercely back at her.

He loved when she yelled.

"Do you know where it is?" she demanded.

"Why would I know?" he asked, amused by her tenacity and anger over such a small ordeal.

"You know where it is, I can tell! You're smiling all weird, the way you do when you're causing trouble!" she pointed an accusatory finger at him, the other hand on her hip. Alucard chuckled. "My master- if I may ask, what would a vampire do with a silver cross?"

"I-I don't know… it would try to destroy it!" she was only getting angrier and the vampire knew it.

"But it belongs to you. I couldn't do anything like that- even if I wanted to." His eyes told the truth.

"Hmph!" Integra spun around to look some more, her golden hair fanning out as she turned. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned around to stick her tongue out at Alucard, which only made him smirk again.

"Master, please stay calm. If I may give you some advice, staying calm will help you in your search-"

"You forget your place, demon!" she interrupted. "I give the orders!"

Alucard picked her up around her waist, despite her squirming, and sat down on the bed. "Master, please stay calm."

"Let go of me, you monster!" she hollered.

Alucard's piercing eyes stared intently. His mere presence could drive men insane with fear, screaming and vomiting in dread and terror, yet this little girl's spirits remained unfettered. How strange and amusing the Hellsings could be, he silently mused as his hands easily held the girl.

"You continue to forget your place, servant! I will not have your filthy hands on me!" The vampire obeyed his master and stepped back. Integra could have sworn she heard a satisfied purr from deep within his hollow chest. Integra calmed down and glared murderously at the creature.

"I know you're tenacious, I saw that the day you awoke me. But it's up to you know how to keep a collected mind. I will have no power over that when our days of battle are upon us and making such a mistake would be costly."

Integra gave him a sideways look, and he continued. "I will give you some advice. You may choose whether you follow it or not. A strong master stays calm in the face of danger. She may shout all she pleases, so long as it is with clear conviction. When the day comes that our foes encircle us and we are left with nothing but our wits, I will merely be your instrument. You will need to make all the decisions yourself. Would you be able to do that while throwing such a fit as you are now?"

"I'll never encounter any kind of situation like that," Integra frowned, her voice softening.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" he purred. Integra paused.

"Because you're here." She said, voice slightly softer than before.

Alucard smiled tiredly down at the little girl. "I wish I could say we'll never encounter such a situation, but there is only so much that even I can do."

This thought scared Integra; the thought that a vampire who had killed two men before her very eyes couldn't always save her like that was an intimidating thought, indeed. She was quick to hide her doubtful thinking from showing in her eyes. But it was too late.

"But don't fear, master, that won't happen today."

"But when? It could happen tomorrow!"

"Shh," Alucard pressed a finger to her lips. "Calm. Remember?"

Integra pushed his hand away and took a deep breath.

"Good."

Integra slid down from the bed and firmly pushed the vampire aside to continue her search. As she landed on the floor, she looked under her dresser to see a glint of light near the back. Getting on all fours she poked her nose underneath and reached for the silver cross. She pulled it out, victory on her face. "It must have slipped down there as I was cleaning!" She fixed the pin onto her ascot and smiled triumphantly, turning to Alucard who only smirked before disappearing.

The vampire looked forward to the day when she would order him to kill- to maim and dismember. He would gladly lay thousands- no, millions of lives to waste just to relish in her orders as she would scream them at the top of her lungs. She was so... _heavenly_ when she screamed and shouted like that. The idea of such a fair young maiden ordering a lowly servant such as himself made him smile inwardly with pure ecstasy.


End file.
